Fully updated for today’s research environments, the long-awaited second edition of Alison Jane Pickard’s best-selling handbookincludes brand new coverage of online research methods and techniques, mixed methodology and qualitative analysis. The first primer to focus entirely on the needs of the information and communications community, it guides would-be researchers through the variety of possibilities open to them under the heading “research” and provides students with the confidence to embark on their dissertations. While Pickard summarizes the philosophy and theory of research to provide context, she focuses squarely on a practical exploration of the research process, offering examples and exercises tried and tested over a whole teaching career. This book takes readers through each aspect of the research process, including

Alison Jane Pickard is Head of Information and Communication Management and Director of Quality and Student Experience in the School of Computing, Engineering and Information Sciences at the University of Northumbria, UK, where she is also Program Leader for the new Professional Doctorate in Information Sciences. She teaches Research Methods in Information and Communication Management, Information Sciences, as well as other subject areas, and has project managed a number of JISC and AHRB research projects.Reviews

”A strength of the work is its attempt to cover the entire
spectrum of research relevant to the LIS community, and Pickard does so very
competently ... this work has a clear role in guiding
students and practitioners through the research process."
— Online Information Review
Praise for the previous edition

"Finally, I have found what I was looking for, since I started working with research students! A book that makes it clear…I find her answers professional, knowledgeable, and useful for doing actual research … this book should be read by all doctoral students in LIS who have embarked on their first big research project. I would also propose it as a textbook for research methods courses at Master's level."
--Information Research

"Sensibly and logically written and … highly useful for both potential and practicing researchers - both students and professionals. This book will be of practical value to LIS students and to those studying archives and records management as well as to beginning research in practice. One of Pickard's aims in writing the book was to share the joy of research … she conveys these aspects extremely well and I finished this book excitedly anticipating my next research adventure."
--Journal of Librarianship and Information Science